“T. Boone Pickens Abandons U.S. wind power“. T. Boone Pickens’ changing business interests apparently proves that Global Warming isn’t happening and that no-one should invest in “green” initiatives. Pasting in a Slashdot story stub proves it.
Hmm. The Slashdot comments suggest that he was angling for big government handouts and had an ulterior motive of wanting control of access corridors for pipelines.
Our take on this is here: http://97.74.195.121/blog/?mode=viewid&post_id=545
Meanwhile, it’s also interesting to note that a major electric utility owned by Warren Buffett recently placed an order for 258 wind turbines with Siemens (the largest order for onshore turbines the company had ever received) …
I think you are mixing the “what” with the “how” on AGW here. There are many of us who object to the economics of wind power and the practical problems of its intermitancy stressing the power grid. That doesn’t count as a rejection of climate change, though. If one believes in the cause of reducing global warming gases, there’s no place for anything but pragmatism in pursuing the solution. I personally feel that wind will never be more than a small part of the solution, despite the hype. Nuclear is where it’s at, IMHO.
[I’m agnostic about which power source is the best replacement. Both wind power and nuclear have downsides. I wish we could make fusion practical! – Ben]
Regarding the integration of wind energy into the utility system, here is a useful resource–an article from Power Engineering magazine, the publication of the Power Engineering Society of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE): http://www.ieee-pes.org/images/pdf/open-access-milligan.pdf